Dyck-O’Neal, Inc. v. Lanham, Case No. SC17-975 (Fla. 2018).
Resolving a conflict between the district courts of appeal, the Florida Supreme Court rules that reserving jurisdiction in a final judgment of foreclosure to award a deficiency judgment does not prohibit a lender from later seeking a deficiency judgment under Florida Statute section 702.06.
Fischer v. HSBC Bank USA, Case No. 2D16-5307 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
A former Chapter 13 debtor may contest standing in a state foreclosure action even if he promised in his Chapter 13 proceedings to surrender the property to the creditor.
The Bank of New York Mellon v. Garcia, Case No. 3D17-2041 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018).
A duplicate of a modification agreement may properly be introduced into evidence over a Best Evidence Rule objection.
Yampol v. Turnberry Isle South Condominium Association, Inc., No. 3D17-2752 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018).
An order denying a motion for attorney’s fees is an appealable, non-final order when the trial court intends there be no further judicial labor.
JBJ Investment of South Florida, Inc. v. Southern Title Group, Inc., Case Nos. 4D16-1925 & 4D16-3974 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
The fact that a title agent, and not the closing attorney, prepared the defective legal description attached to the mortgage does not exculpate the attorney from malpractice.
Webber v. D’Agostino, Case No. 4D17-3007 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
A contractual prevailing party fees provision does not merge into the final judgment and can provide the basis for an award of post-judgment attorney’s fees.
Soule v. U.S. Bank National Association, Case No. 2D16-3231 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
A successor service’s introduction into evidence of a default letter written by a prior servicer does not constitute evidence that the letter was mailed.
Gibson v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 2D16-5632 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
A tax refund resulting from a tax return filed by husband and wife is property rebuttably presumed to be owned as tenants by the entireties.
Griffith v. Quality Distribution, Inc., Case No. 2D17-3160 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
In a case of first impression for Florida courts, the Second District adopts the In re Trulia, Inc.Stockholder Litigation, 129 A.3d 884 (Del. Ch. 2016), standard for analyzing disclosure settlements in class action litigation, and holds that supplemental disclosures “must address and correct a plainly material misrepresentation or omissionand the subject matter of the proposed release must be narrowly circumscribed toencompass nothing more than disclosure claims and fiduciary duty claims concerningthe sale process” in order for settlement to be approved.
Desulme v. Rueda, Case No. 3D17-1652 Fla. 3d DCA 2018).
A party must obtain permission from the court appointing the receiver before suing the receiver; the only exception is where the receiver has acted outside his or her authority.
Bluefield Ranch Mitigation Bank Trust v. South Florida Water Management District, Case No. 4D16-3023 (4th DCA 2018).
An economic injury combined with something more, e.g., a requirement that a competitor comply with a statute, is sufficient to confer standing under the Florida Administrative Procedure Act.
Presley v. United States, No. 17-10182 (11th Cir. 2018).
A taxpayer has no expectation of privacy in bank records sought by the I.R.S., even if the records belong to a lawyer and may contain third party (including client) information.
Sachse Construction and Development Corporation v. Affirmed Drywall, Corp., Case No. 2D17-4276 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
The Federal Arbitration Act preempts Florida Statute section 47.025 (actions against contractors may only be brought where the action accrues or contractor resides) when the action is truly interstate, and accordingly arbitration need not be conducted where the contractor resides if the Federal Arbitration Act applies.
Morris v. MGZ Properties, LLC, Case No. 4D17-3587 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
The undefined word “sale” in a contract means any sale, including a foreclosure sale.
Goersch v. City of Satellite Beach, Case No. 5D17-386 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018).
A Florida Statute section 57.105 motion must be served in strict accordance with Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516, even if it is not served until after the “safe harbor” period expires. Conflict certified with Matte v. Caplan, 140 So. 3d 686 (Fla. 4thDCA 2014).
In Re: Daughtrey, Case No. 15-14544 (11th Cir. 2018).
A bankruptcy court’s approval of a compromise or settlement under 11 U.S.C. § 9023 is reviewedfor abuse of discretion.
NE 32nd Street, LLC v. U.S., Case No. 17-11908 (11th Cir. 2018).
The Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a contains a twelve-year statute of limitations, and a 2013 building permit (with strict conservation conditions) is consistent with a 1938 spoilage easement granted by the government, and thus, the landowner’s title claims are barred by not bringing suit in 1950, i.e. based on the 1938 easement.
Sowell v. Faith Christian Family Church of Panama City Beach, Inc., Case No. 1D17-3365 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018).
A landowner’s failure to pay assessed ad valorem taxes deprives the trial court, under Florida Statute section 194.171, of subject matter jurisdiction to entertain a challenge to the tax assessment.
Super Products, LLC v. Intracoastal Environmental, LLC, Case No. 2D17-3769 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
A trial court may not dismiss an action brought by a foreign limited liability company for fraudulently obtaining a certificate of authority from the Department ofState as determining whether the certificate was fraudulently obtained is an executive function.
Hawks v. Libit, Case No. 2D17-4526 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
A party seeking to recover costs under Florida Statute section 57.041(1) must meet the “party recovering judgment,” and not the “prevailing party,” standard to be entitled to an award of costs.
Essensonv. Bloom, Case No. 2D16-4994 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
Aligning itself with the Fourth District, the Second District holds that an appellate court mayprohibit, in advance, a trial court from awarding appellate costs.
Abtv. Metro Motors Ventures, Inc., Case No. 4D17-1960 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
An attorney is not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees for enforcing a charging lien previously awarded for unpaid attorney’s fees.
Schneider v. First American Bank, Case No. 4D17-2239 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
A judgment containing both foreclosure and money judgments may permit execution upon the money judgment if the foreclosure sale is stayed but may not authorize both execution and foreclosure sale to proceed simultaneously.
Newman v. Mayer Brown, LLP, Case No. 4D17-3416 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
An assignee of claims against a party is subject to discovery by the party on the claims; it may not use its assignee status as both sword and shield.